A surveyor standing on a horizontal plain can see a volcano in the distance. The angle of elevation on the top of the volcano is 23degree. If the surveyor moves 750m closer, the angle of elevation is now 37degree. Determine the height if the volcano above the plain.

Question

latinc · Answer

start by drawing the picture you see

latinc · Answer

find the triangles

elise_kong · Answer

Can someone show the working out?

scooby6363 · Answer

|dw:1461477684411:dw|

750 meters / tan(37) = 995.28
The information about the 23 degrees is useless since no additional information is given.
We use tangent because we are using only the opposite side and the adjacent side. Tangent is $$\frac{ opposite }{ adjacent }$$

Since we do not know the opposite angle we must solve for it by dividing the adjacent side by the tangent of the angle.

You can check this with tan^-1(750/995.28) = 37 degrees.